Winnipeg Transit Santa Bus is ready to hit the road for another season of partnering with the Winnipeg Sun's Empty Stocking Fund to raise money for the Christmas Cheer Board. In 2016, the fun bus raised a total of $9,624.80.Supplied photo/Winnipeg Transit / SunMedia

That’s the sweet sound that you may have already heard on one special city bus this December.

Yes, the Santa Bus is back in action and yes, Winnipeg Transit is partnering with The Winnipeg Sun’s Empty Stocking Fund yet again. Last year, the fun bus raised a total of $9,624.80 for the Christmas Cheer Board.

The Santa Bus rolls its way through most city routes in December. It will play your favourite Christmas carols, making your ride to work, school or home that much more fun. Your fare and any extra change you might want to add will go to the Cheer Board.

So, hop on board, sing a few songs as you jingle along and dig some coins out of your pockets. Please.

Maxim brekkie

Our Empty Stocking Fund is welcoming a new fundraiser friend this Christmas. For years, Maxim Truck and Trailer has quietly been raising big bucks for the Cheer Board at its Annual Pancake Breakfast and we will joining them next Thursday, Dec. 7, at 1860 Brookside Blvd., 7-10:30 a.m. Please join us for a scrumptious brekkie of pancakes, sausages, juice, coffee and/or tea for only $10. The morning will include a raffle and 50/50 draw. You are also encouraged to bring non-perishable food items and unwrapped toys.

“I like to help out people who haven’t had the same breaks that I had,” said Maxim president/CEO Dog Harvey. “And, at Maxim’s, it is our way of helping make it a better community.” So, please join Cheer Board executive director Kai Madsen and I at what promises to be a fun morning.

I’m baa-ack

And, oh yeah, I’m back, too, as a guest columnist for this campaign because the cause had become such a labour of love for me before I took a buyout with The Sun last year. Towards that end, the Cheer Board will need almost $900,000 to cover the costs of assembling and delivering hampers to about 18,000 families. The Cheer Board helps about 50,000 people, half of them kids, said Kai Madsen. The hampers include a turkey for most families, some groceries and gifts for those kids.

Kai tells me the Cheer Board actually broke even last year, but only because it got a very late, but major, donation. Otherwise, it would have been staring at a deep hole. I’ve already gotten a $47 donation from our annual Marlborough Hotel Bellmen’s Reunion, thanks to my old boss, Walter Urbanowich.

Let’s get these parties started

Please circle Dec. 14 and 16 on your calendars as my good friends at The Nob and Kirkfield Hotel have already confirmed that they will be hosting their annual Cheer Board fundraisers.

The Nog at the Nob will be held at the St. Norbert Hotel on Dec. 14, while there will be a switch in times for the Club 3D fundraiser, which will now be held, 3-7 p.m. on Dec. 16. Details are coming soon.

Thanks to you all, we managed to raise a grand total of $70,712.22 in cash and kind last yuletide. That was slightly down from previous years but still helped the Cheer Board break even, which is all it really wants to do every year. So, please help us help the Cheer Board out.

Mailing

Please send whatever you can spare to The Sun’s Empty Stocking Fund, 1700 Church Avenue, Wpg., Man. R2X 3A2. Receipts will be issued for donations of $10 or more.

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